Football

The Florida Gators‘ football schedule is tough as a whole with games against Tennessee, Georgia and LSU annually along with a bunch of other Southeastern Conference opponents. But while those teams are good, Florida has played three better opponents twice each over the last 18 games: Florida State, Alabama and Michigan. And in those games, which make up one-third of the last 18 contests, the Gators have been absolutely rolled.

Did I say rolled? Perhaps “annihilated” is a better term. Or maybe we’ll simply go with “dominated.” Either way.

In 2015, FSU shut out Florida for three quarters and the Gators only scored via safety in a 27-2 loss. The following season, UF did not muster an offensive touchdown for the second straight year in a 31-13 defeat.

Florida did not manage an offensive touchdown against Alabama until the end of the fourth quarter of a 29-15 loss in 2015 but did find a way to score two early in a 54-16 drubbing last December.

Michigan has not allowed Florida to score a point in the second half of either of their meetings, shutting out the Gators for the final three quarters in a 41-7 beat down in the 2016 Citrus Bowl and not allowing an offensive touchdown in a 33-17 defeat Saturday.

In all … Florida has been outscored by 149 points (219-70) in those six games (24.8 points per game). The Gators have scored just four offensive touchdowns. UF has also been outgained by more than 1,000 yards (2,436-1,375) in those six games (176.8 yards per game)

Head coach Jim McElwain was asked about all of this on Monday, though the stats were not provided to him. He did not shy away from the embarrassment.

McElwain added: “No, it doesn’t [give me pause]. It also shows me what we got to build for. No doubt about it — that’s where we strive to be and that’s where we’re gonna get. I don’t think that’s unfair [criticism] at all. I really don’t. I think, in those cases, we — rather than be the aggressor — I think we allowed those defenses to be the aggressor.”

That’s all well and good to say, but the numbers from those games speak for themselves.

McElwain said that he takes fans’ complaints “with more than just a grain of salt” but cautioned not to get too overzealous on considering Florida’s 2017 over considering one bad result.

“Welp, I think it’s one game. I just love the fact we have fans. I think that’s a good thing, all right? I don’t take that as a negative at all,” he said. “That’s one of the things that drew me here was the fact that there’s a lot of passionate people out there for the Gators. And you know what, we’re all entitled to our opinion, and I appreciate it. I just know we’re working to build this thing into something great.”

With at least one more opportunity to face the Seminoles — an SEC Championship Game matchup with the Crimson Tide is far from a sure thing — McElwain has nearly a dozen games to fix what has ailed the Gators against their toughest competition.

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